Moraga’s Viboch adds City to interesting resume
As usual, the San Francisco City Championship produced a pack of oh-so-young quarterfinalists this year, plucked from high school and college campuses around Northern California.
Another tradition of “The City” is spitting out at least one contender far removed from his teenage years, with a meandering back story of chasing oh-so-elusive golf dreams.
That’s a long way of saying: meet Brett Viboch.
Viboch grew up in Moraga, attended Miramonte High and graduated from Chico State. He spent four years as a fledgling mini-tour pro, bouncing around the game’s netherworld, before regaining his amateur status and landing a real job.
Now he’s 34, working in West Sacramento for a distributor of firefighting and police equipment (the company is based in Oakland) and making noise in one of the country’s oldest municipal tournaments. Viboch rolled to victory in his first three matches and will meet
Max Ting, a Menlo School senior, in Saturday morning’s quarterfinals at Harding Park.
Viboch bubbles with fresh confidence, derived from hitting balls on the range four nights a week. He estimated he’s 17-under-par on his 44 matchplay holes in the City.
“I’ve never played the kind of golf I’m playing now,” he said.
Still, what makes Viboch distinctive in this event is his journey. He originally planned to enroll at Texas (until the coach found a more enticing prospect), ended up at UC Davis for one year and regrettably passed on a chance to play at Oregon.
He admittedly didn’t take school or golf seriously at Chico State, didn’t have the funding to make it as a tour pro and ultimately found the next-best thing. He got a job at Cobra Golf in Carlsbad (San Diego County), working in the research and testing laboratory.
Viboch has been consumed by equipment. He worked with tour pros such as Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson, making sure clubs met their precise specifications.
“It was really cool,” Viboch said. “I’d sit there and test every single wedge before the tour rep started building them. We had to make sure they were all ready for Rickie and Lexi.”
Viboch eventually returned home to Northern California (in part because of a relationship) and found working outside the golf industry revived his ambition for playing the game. He has qualified for one U.S. Amateur, two U.S. Mid-Amateurs and will play in his second U.S. Amateur Four-Ball this summer.
That gives him a decided edge in experience over his younger City competitors. He’s also fully prepared for foul weather, another tradition at this event; Viboch wore two jackets, a neck warmer and beanie while enduring a hailstorm at Lincoln Park during qualifying.
The forecast calls for a break in the rain Saturday and Sunday, but Harding will be one soggy, mud-splattered track.
“I would prefer blue skies and no wind, but we both have to play in the same thing,” Viboch said. “I know I’ll handle the crappiness as well or better than anybody.”
On the women’s side, Pioneer-San Jose senior Sabrina
Iqbal is chasing a three-peat. Iqbal won the City in 2016 and ’17, and she’s in position again. Iqbal faces Simar Singh in Saturday morning’s quarterfinals.
Global Golf Post, an online publication, again donated the funds to cover the greens fees for Sunday’s finalists.
Bay Hill on tap: Cal’s Collin Morikawa steps into another realm Thursday — he’s playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the PGA Tour event in Orlando.
Morikawa earned his spot in the field by leading the U.S. past Europe in last year’s Palmer Cup, a match-play event featuring top college players. Morikawa is the world’s No. 3-ranked amateur.
Tiger Woods also is playing at Bay Hill this week, with a tad more fanfare. Woods tied for second Sunday at the Valspar Championship; his contention generated the highest television ratings for a non-major in five years.
NBC’s 5.1 rating also decisively topped the final rounds of last year’s U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Yep, the Masters still rules.
Briefly: Martin Trainer, the 2008 S.F. City champion and a Gunn High-Palo Alto alum, won the Web.com Tour event Sunday in Mexico. Joseph
Bramlett, who attended St. Francis-Mountain View and Stanford, shot a final-round 65 to tie for sixth and secure his tour card for the rest of this season. … Champions Ernie
Els and Jim Furyk received special exemptions into this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York. … Tournament officials are seeking volunteers for next month’s LPGA event at Lake Merced. Visit www.medihealchamp.com for more info.